Gertie, is going, I feel a bit sorry but a new one begs to me .

My Chausson Oddesee, is going away on Thursday, she has done quite well and has gained a few miles more with me than she did over 8 years with the previous owner. He has become a Tugger and it really makes more sense for three weeks a year on a site. I will be quite sorry for it but it took a lot of work to make her a bit more usable, draughts cold patches etc., a load of hassle tryng to make up and in the next day take down the bed from cushions and topper. Got fed up and as a windfall came my way I have gone for what is a perfect choice, German and automatic, real automatic at that. All I have to do is decide which dealer is going to drop the most for the model in stock. Just why does it take two weeks to prepare a new van for the road, when they already have been driven to shows and back.
Tomorrow I will carry on cleaning and polishing Gertie inside and out and finishing the final little jobs I never quite finished before. I hope the new owner will get the best of service from Her, She went straight through an MOT today and the tester said how good she was for her age, everything works fine and no smoke or other bad habits. However on emptying he out I was astonished as to how much STUFF was in it loads of it all carried away in a wheel barrow to the house. LOADS AND LOADS of stuff ,a generator , spare diesel in a can, cables tools, food, books, clothing, TV came out and all these must weigh a lot. I did slip up on the last trip as I filled the Gaslow bottles right up when I got home in case we went somewhere. Never mind the next person will get something extra.
Oh I forgot, the Avatar has to go , nobody else can have him, the Banksy on the back.

Gertie has left me, I did feel a bit sad watching her go off around the corner for the last time, I hope that the new owners will like her, and there is no reason why not, Good solid van with no apparent fault.
All I need now it to NEGOTIATE HARDER with he dealers for the new one, Three possible available from stock now and another two coming in from Germany in the next few weeks. All of them have unnecessary extras on them, that I would choose at all but one thing I do feel is important is a SPARE WHEEL which none it seems come with nowadays, I have a jack.and a Gasit bottle but need to fit the kit.
I am getting quite excited about it as this will be the most expensive thing I have ever bought it does give me a few misgivings.
The value is such that the insurers all want Thatcham alarm and tracker fitted so I will have to contact Eddie and get a price for both, so I will need to cut the dealers down a bit to pay for them.
The one I want is a MB sprinter with 7G auto box, I need to drive one first Just to make sure I do not hate it, but that is unlikely, I have never had an automatic gearbox on a big vehicle only ever driven cars with them and they were old Borg Warner 3 speeds and were awful to drive and fuel.

The one I want is a MB sprinter with 7G auto box, I need to drive one first Just to make sure I do not hate it,

Click to expand...

Pop down and drive mine, I can assure you you will not hate it. I was extremely happy with my 3.0 litre Ducato based Geist with Manual trans but I drove the robotized Fiat at the same time as the Merc and there was no comparison for smooth take up of the drive, particularly when reversing onto ramps.
Mind you it costs over £10,000 more so it should be good and some will argue the value there.

.My Wife says I never Listen to Her....... or something like that

If things get better with Age then I am approaching Perfection

.....................Ain't no pockets in a shroud

............................Often, the journey is as rewarding as the destination.

....................................Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment

I intent to got the dealers and drive the one I want as it is a demonstrator as well, I also want to experience the A class Widescreen does it feel like a Wide screen TV out in front effect, my brothers car felt like that as the screen was so far away everything was framed by it and you couldn't see the edge of the car. It was like the screen was moving in front of you very odd!

I intent to got the dealers and drive the one I want as it is a demonstrator as well, I also want to experience the A class Widescreen does it feel like a Wide screen TV out in front effect, my brothers car felt like that as the screen was so far away everything was framed by it and you couldn't see the edge of the car. It was like the screen was moving in front of you very odd!

Click to expand...

I have only sat in them at shows, felt much safer with all that peripheral vision !!!!

Pleased owner of the Skoda equivalent of the Hymer family......

Godwins law: there is a tradition in many Internet discussion forums that once a (Nazi) comparison is made, the thread is finished and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever debate was in progress. This principle is itself frequently referred to as Godwin's law. It is considered poor form to raise such a comparison arbitrarily with the motive of ending the thread.
(wiki)

With my Chausson I never went abroad, even though I did have Breakdown cover. I was a bit worried about going and I LIVE IN DOVER.
It was just the being able to spend enough time over there to make it worthwhile. The wife was having to look after her mother on a day a week basis, but she has gone into a Home, at the moment for a week or so at the moment, but there is now no van.
At least if the new one breaks down I can phone Mercedes and they will fix it anywhere.
As I mentioned I have never driven an A class before so a test drive is imperative and if I cannot like it then It will need to be the ML-T with a proper cab but not as good for living in.
All will be revealed, coming to a screen near you soon.